The UFC’s light-heavyweight champion is 38 years old and is unwavering in the promise he made to his family years ago that he would retire from fighting before he turned 40.

Cormier has scaled the highest heights of the MMA world, faltering only when he was confronted with Jon Jones in the octagon.

As he prepares to defend his 205-pound title against Volkan Oezdemir Saturday night at UFC 220, he insisted that he’ll soon be ready to move on from MMA, even though he’s still got the same drive to compete he’s always had.

“I’ve always said that I don’t fight at 40, I’ve been vocal about that since I was 31 years old,” Cormier said. “It’s not for a lack of motivation, it’s because we as a family had made a decision that when I was older and I turned 40, I would focus on other things, like (his son’s wrestling or his daughter’s gymnastics).

“I’ve been the sole focus of my family’s athletics since I was 15-years-old. It’s time for someone else. I want to be exactly for them what my parents were for me.”

There’s a commonly repeated saying in MMA about how if a fighter is thinking about retiring, then they should just retire. The sport requires a singular focus, after all, and thinking about retirement implies that a fighter’s mind is – at least partially – elsewhere.

With Cormier, though, that doesn’t feel like it applies.

In the weeks leading up to his co-main event fight against Oezdemir, Cormier has willingly taken on the majority of promotional duties for UFC 220, even as the UFC has shone most of its spotlight on headliners Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.

Cormier, though, is the most vocal of the big-name fighters on the card and has seemed to delight in poking fun at Oezdemir. He clearly embraces everything that comes with being a fighter, and while the end might be near, it hasn’t arrived just yet.

“This isn’t my last fight,” Cormier said plainly when he was asked at Wednesday’s open workouts in Boston. “Just because I say I won’t fight when I’m 40 doesn’t mean I won’t fight five times this year, because I love to compete.

“I might just hustle through fights so I can fight as many times as I can before I turn 40 years old.”

If Cormier is going to pack fights into 2018, it should be a good year for fight fans.

While the former Olympic wrestler has been a divisive figure at times throughout his career, it seems like fans have finally embraced him.

Maybe that’s because of the way he’s dealt with losing to Jones last summer at UFC 214, only to have Jones test positive for a performance enhancing drug afterwards and have the decision overturned.

It was the latest controversy in a seemingly never-ending saga between Cormier and Jones, whose bitter rivalry will go down as one of the greatest in MMA history, despite Jones getting the better of Cormier both times they fought.

Cormier could easily be bitter, but he hasn’t shied away from talking about the fight, and even credits Jones with getting the victory despite the failed test.

“It was him (who beat Cormier), I hate that he did some dirty stuff, but he did a lot of great things to finish that fight, and I’ll accept that,” Cormier said.

Because of his positive test, Jones is out of action, and that means Cormier’s moving on and fighting Oezdemir.

While Cormier has been active over the years and has beaten the likes of Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Johnson, Oezdemir feels like something new. Despite their disparity in ages, Jones, Gustafsson and Johnson all felt like they were members of the same generation.

Oezdemir made his UFC debut less than a year ago. He’s new to the scene and the type of guy Cormier never envisioned defending his title against. He thought he’d be long gone by the time Oezdemir’s generation made it to the top.

Cormier’s up for the challenge, though. At least for another year.

Then, it’s time for a change.

Make no mistake, though, the fight game will miss him.

“So many people put their families on hold to come and make sure I’m ready for these fights,” Cormier said. “I’m ready to be part of someone else’s entourage for a little while.”

MIOCIC AN UNDERDOG? SOME THINK SO

With a couple days to go before Saturday’s big heavyweight title fight, Stipe Miocic is still being treated as the underdog against Francis Ngannou by both bookies and many in the media.

Gian Villante has been training with Miocic, though, and considers the UFC heavyweight champion one of his closest friends.

He’s not buying the Ngannou hype.

In fact, Villante compared Ngannou to another heavily hyped heavyweight machine who couldn’t compete with the sport’s very best: Brock Lesnar, who competed in the UFC after a career in the WWE and rose quickly before getting wrecked by Cain Velasquez.

“I’m comparing it to the Brock Lesnar-Cain Velasquez fight, where it kind of cemented Cain as being the top heavyweight guy,” Villante said. “I think Francis Ngannou is just another Brock Lesnar.”

Lesnar was on top of the MMA world when he stepped into the octagon against Velasquez at UFC 121 in 2010. Velasquez was the more polished fighter, though, and had little trouble disposing of the big-muscled superstar.

“It’s the same thing, Francis is just that big, scary guy like Brock Lesnar,” Villante said. “Everyone thinks he’s the baddest man on the planet even though he’s not the champion. He’s a scary dude and nobody wants to be stuck in an elevator with him.

“They think he’s the scary one and then a guy with a great skill-set comes along and beats him. I think that’s what Cain was, and I think that’s what Stipe is.”

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